Casting apparatus



Dec. 19, 1933. s. A. FERLIN CASTING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 22. 1931 //v vEA/me 6/4 8597/4. fl-rzm/ A TTOENFKS 1933- VG. A. FERLIN 1,939,963

CASTING APPARATUS Filed June 22. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 55 15 I A /9 I 6/1 5577/1. FFAA/A/ Ame/V575 Patented Dec. 19, 1933 UNITED STATES CASTING APPARATUS Gilbert A. Ferlin, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to National Bronze & Aluminum Foundry Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 22, 1931. Serial No. 546,043

Claims. (Cl. 22-136) This invention as indicated relates to casting apparatus. More particularly it comprises apparatus wherein separable mold sections and a movable core stem are provided whereby elon- 5 gated hollow castings may be formed of suitable metals and alloys thereof at a relatively rapid rate of production.

Heretofore separable molds for repeated use in casting operations have been known but such apparatus has been relatively heavy in construction and has not embodied features permitting quantity production to be carried on effectively with a high quality of product.

The present invention has for its principal object the provision of a separable mold adapted to be used repeatedly in the process of manufacturing castings of various shapes and particularly hollow articles having reinforcing or operative members at the sides thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mold having a fixed core member and a core stem co-operative therewith and movable 1'918- tively therethrough whereby elongated hollow articles of high quality may be produced.

A further object of the invention is to provide a separable mold structure providing a plurality of feeding inlets in co-operative relation with a lateral gate structure whereby distribution of metal will take place evenly and without interference because of entrapped air or eddy currents of metal.

Another object of the invention is to provide separable mold sections having improved means for seating the same in liquid-tight relation to each other and registering such sections in accurate circumferential relation to each other.

Other and further objects of the invention will appear in the course of the following description.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail certain means and mechanism embodying the invention, such dis-- closed means and mechanism, however, embodying but one of several forms wherein the principles of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of my improved apparatus taken in a transverse'plane through a parting of the movable mold sections and showing the pouring gates and sprues;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view partly in section, taken on the line 2-2, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan sectional view, taken in the planes indicated by the lines 3-3, Figures 1 and 5;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the top of the apparatus; 1

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical axial section of the apparatus, taken in the plane indicated by the line 5-5, Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a side elevation showing one of the hinge members for the movable mold sections;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary elevation showing a lateral locking member for adjacent movable mold sections;

Figure 8 is a side elevation partly in section showing an untrimmed casting as taken from the mold;

Figure 9 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 8 showing the casting after trimming;

Figure 11 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Figure 10;

Figure 12 is a fragmentary view partly in section in the plane shown by the line 12-42, Figure 9;

Figure 13 is a sectional view of one of the wings taken along the line 13-13, Figure 10;

Figure 14 is a detail view partly in section taken along the line 14-14, Figure 8, illustrating the gate structure;

Figure 15 is a sectional view showing the sprue taken along the line 15-15, Figure 8; and

Figure 16 is a sectional view showing the runner, taken along the line 16-16, Figure 9.

As will appear from the several figures of the drawings, particularly Figure 1, the apparatus comprises a supporting framel upon which is secured a base member 2 formed of an annular outer member 3 and an inner portion 4 securely united to each other by means of fastening members shown as screw bolts 5 extending through flanges 6 projecting outwardly from-said inner section 4.

The outer section of said base member may be secured by bolts 7 extending through flanges 8 and 9 formed respectively on the frame and at the lower edge of said base member. In the device illustrated, the base is provided with four hinge lugs 10 at uniformly spaced intervals about its circumference to provide a support for movable mold members 11 formed with co-operating integrally with plates 14 of arcuate shape conforming to the shape of the movable mold members and having horizontal and vertical flanges secured by means of bolts 15 and 16, respectively, to said movable mold members. Said plates 14 are formed with bosses i7 and 18 provided with sockets within which handle bars 19 and 20 may be engaged in screw threaded relation. The handle bars 19 preferably extend horizontally outward when the movable mold section is in casting position and the handle bars 20 extend vertically upward at such time. The movable mold sections preferably have inner surfaces shaped to the outer surface of the article to be cast and have outer walls conforming to such inner walls approximately so as to provide substantially uniform wall thickness for said movable mold members.

The apparatus illustrated is shaped for the casting of agitators used in the production of washing machines out of aluminum and its alloys and is formed with four movable mold members meeting in liquid-tight relation along the parting planes and at the base thereof. At the central meeting point of said movable mold members a casting cavity 21 is provided which terminates in a riser 22 surrounding the upper end of a core stem presently to be described which is received within an aperture 23 at the top of said movable members.

In order to lock the movable mold members in casting relation upstanding ears 24 are provided on the upper flanges 25 thereof and locking hooks 26 and 27, respectively, are engaged upon eccentrics 28 and 29, respectively, by means of which their free ends are drawn into locking engagement with pins 30 and 31 engaged through ears on opposite movable mold'members. Additional locking members 32 and 33 are provided at the sides of the movable mold members adjacent the pouring gates presently to be described. These locking members 32 and 33 are in the form of pivoted hooks engaging over pins 34 as it will more clearly appear in Figure 7 of the drawings.

, The meeting faces of the movable mold members extend outwardly substantially to the outer margins of the base member and as will appear more particularly in Figure 3 the adjacent faces of said movable mold members in a transverse plane across said apparatus are formed with complementary recesses to provide a pouring gate 35, 36, at each side respectively, each pouring gate having a rounded outer edge and a relatively sharp inner edge and decreasing in size downwardly to apoint of merger with recesses in he lower portions of said movable mold members at their point of contact with their base member as will be presently described. One of said pouring gates or sprues 36 is formed at a point spaced from its lower end with a pair of passageways forming lateral gates 3'7, 38 connecting said passageway 36 with the casting cavity of the apparatus. At the point of merger of the passageways 37 and 38 which occurs at a point spaced from the casting cavity, the passageway is narrowed as seen in horizontal cross section to provide a thin fin of metal 39 at such point. The passageway 37 is inclined downwardly from the sprue toward the casting cavity and the passageway 38 is inclined upwardly from .the sprue toward the casting cavity, such construction providing for the circulation of casting metal through said gate and the prevention of air becoming entrapped in the metal is thus provided for.

The lower outer edges of the movable mold members are provided with integral outwardly extending flanges 41 adjacent their respective outer sides, which flanges are formed with downwardly and inwardly beveled faces 42 adapted to co-operate with companion faces 43 on spacing blocks or lugs 44 formed at intervals about the outer margins of the annular base member 3, and said members are also formed with notches providing positioning faces 45 at their ends to co-operate with registering blocks or plates 46 formed of hardened metal having rounded inner ends and secured by suitable fastenings such as screw bolts 47 in depressed seats formed centrally across the spacing blocks. By means of said beveled faces on the mold members and the base the mold members are forced into firm contact with each other and said registering blocks prevent radial displacement of the movable mold members.

The inner base member 4 as stated provides a fixed core 48 on its upper surface and is centrally apertured to provide a passageway for a movable core member or stem 49. Said movable core member is adapted to be reciprocated vertic ally in a guide sleeve 51 continuous with said central aperture through the fixed core member and said sleeve is formed on one side with a recess within which is received a spline 52 formed on one side of said movable core stem. On the opposite side of said movable core stein a rack section 53 is provided which is engaged with a toothed actuating member 54 carried on a transverse shaft 55 extending through the base terminating in an enlargement 56 within which is engaged one end of an operating bar 57. Thus through the movement of said operating bar the core stem may be drawn downwardly after the completion of the casting operation.

The core stem is formed with a lower section of cylindrical outline closely fitting the aperture through its guiding sleeve and is formed with a shoulder in alignment with the upper margin of a fixed core member when in raised position. The flange at the lower end of the movable core stem serves as a stop 58 to limit the upward movement of said stem. The intermediate sec tion of the movable stem is tapered from its point of juncture with the lower cylindrical section 59 and such intermediate section 61 tapers upwardly and is formed with a shoulder merging with a reduced upper section 62.

The upper section 62 as heretofore described is received within the aperture 23 at the top of the movable mold members which opens to the air at its upper end. The riser cavity 22 within the upper portion of the movable mold members surrounds the reduced upper end of the core stem and has downwardly and inwardly inclined walls. In the form of stem illustrated, a plurality of vertical ribs 63 are formed on the core stern in order to provide a series of ribs in the upper end of the agitator member for engagement with a driving element suitably shaped or engaged therewith.

The agitating member, as shown in Figure 1, is formed with wings 64 and the movable mold members are suitably recessed along their parting planes to form such wing members. The lower edge of the agitating member is formed with a bead 65 on its under side about its circumference and the inner fixed core member is formed with a circumferential depression to provide for such bead.

The outer annular base member 3 is formed on its upper side with an annular channel 66 having beveled side walls which extend on each side of said base member from the position of the pouring passageways 35 and 36, respectively, to a point spaced from the parting planes running transversely to the parting planes in which said pouring passageways are located. The movable mold members are formed with reversely formed channels lying directly over the channel 66 which channels 67 in said upper movable mold members likewise have beveled side walls but the outer of said beveled side walls is preferably formed at a greater angle so as to provide more metal in the upper section of the runner formed in the space provided by said opposite channels in the base and in said movable mold members, to take care of shrinkage at the point of merger of the pouring passageways with said channel-ways. The upper channel-ways formed in the movable mold members extend even further toward the transverse plane crossing the plane in which the pouring passageways are located and,thus the runners exhibit a variety of cross-sections as will be noted more particularly by inspection of the sections thereof in Figures 8, 12, and 16. The lower channel-ways formed in the annular base member are beveled so as to divert the casting metal into inlets formed in said base member and the adjacent movable mold members at a point spaced from the parting planes in which the pouring passageways are located and from the ends of said runners.

As stated, the article formed in the apparatus described comprises an agitating member for a washing machine which is referred to in the trade as an agitator. Such structure is formed as shown in Figure 8 by supplying metal to the base through the sprues 71 and '72 and gates 73 and '74, The riser 75 provides sufiicient metal to provide for the satisfactory forming of the ribs '76 interiorly of the stem '77 of the agitator. The wings 78 are supplied through the respective sprues. At the point of junction of the sprues with the .runners '79 shrinkage enlargements are formed. The runners outwardly of such enlargements have a cross-section such as is shown in Figure 12 such runner sections 81 being symmetrical at such point. Still further outwardly adjacent the ends of the runners the sections 82- have a cross-section such as is shown in Figure 16. The wings 78 in cross-section are provided with an enlarged upper end 83 as shown in Figure 13 and preferably to save metal are provided with a depresssion 84 on their under side at the meeting point with a lower section of the agitator. The gates 73 and 74 are preferably formed with enlarged passageways adjacent their upper edges as shown in Figure 14 and the sprues '71 and '12 likewise are provided with enlarged outer, edges and beveled inner edges to assist in the metal flow.

The inlet passageways, as shown in Figure 9,

form thin webs 85 at points spaced from the parting plane in which the pouring passageways are located and terminate at points spaced from the parting planes extending transversely thereof.

The agitator in its finished form is illustrated in Figures 10 and 11 wherein the runners, sprues, gates, and inlet fins are cut away from the completed article.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus of the character described, having in combination a fixed mold section in the form of a substantially circular horizontal base member formed on its upper side with a flat circumferential area providing a sealing flange, recesses formed in diametrically opposite portions of said flange to receive runners of casting metal, a plurality of spacing blocks formed about the margin of said base section and equally spaced from each other, a plurality of hinge members positioned intermediate said spacing blocks, a plurality of movable mold sections having hinge members at their lower ends co-operating with the hinge members of said base disposed centrally thereof and provided with beveled projections to coact with beveled faces on said spacing blocks.

2. An apparatus of the character described, having in combination a fixed mold section in the form of a substantially circular horizontal base member formed on its upper side with a flat circumferential area providing a sealing flange,

a plurality of spacing blocks formed about the wardly therefrom, a plurality of hinge members positioned intermediate said spacing blocks, a plurality of movable mold sections having hinge members centrally of their lower edges and cooperating with the hinge members of said base, and corner recesses and bearing faces on the ends and undersides of said movable mold sections for co-operating with companion faces on said spacing blocks, and registering blocks, to center said movable mold sections about said apparatus.

3. An apparatus of the character described, having in combination a fixed mold section in the form of a substantially circular horizontal base member formed on its upper side with a flat circumferential area providing a sealing flange, a plurality of movable mold sections hingedly connected with said base section at equally spaced points about the circumference thereof, cooperating notches and registering blocks, respectively on said mold sections andon said base sections for positioning said movable mold sections against radial displacement, a flat surface at the base of each movable mold section adapted to contact in liquid-tight relation with said flat circumferential area of said base section, complementary recesses in said base and mold sections, respectively, providing passageways for casting metal on opposite sides of said apparatus, and inlet passageways formed in said base section and movable mold'sections, respectively, between the radial position of said registering blocks, for admitting casting metal to a casting cavity intermediate said mold sections.

4. An apparatus of the character described, having in combination a'base provided on its upper side with a flat circumferential area providing a sealing flange and a central area providing a g fixed core member having a passageway centrally thereof, an elongated narrow substantially cylindrical movable core stem positioned within said passageway and adapted to be projected upwardly beyond said fixed core member and withdrawn downwardly through said fixed core member, a plurality of movable mold sections hingedly connected with said base and adapted to be seated in liquid-tight relation with said sealing flange with portions of the inner surfaces of said movable mold sections in spaced relation to said core to form a casting cavity, registering blocks on said base engaging marginal beveled faces on said movable mold sections to prevent radial displacement thereof, passageways formed in adjacent faces of said movable mold members to provide sprues and gates for the casting metal, and recesses formed in the adjacent faces of said base and movable mold members and communieating with said passageways forming sprues to supply metal to the lower portion of said casting cavity with said gates supplying casting metal to the upper portion thereof from one of said sprues.

5. An apparatus of the character described, having in combination a base provided on its upper side with a flat circumferential area providing a sealing flange and a central area providing a fixed core member having a passageway centrally thereof, an elongated narrow substantially cylindrical movable core stern positioned 'within said passageway and adapted to be projected upwardly beyond said fixed core member and withdrawn downwardly through said fixed core member, a plurality of movable mold sections hingedly connected with said base and adapted to be seated in liquid-tight relation with said sealing flange with portions of the inner surfaces of said movable mold sections in spaced relation to said core to form a casting cavity, registering blocks on said base engaging marginal beveled faces on said movable mold sections to prevent radial displacement thereof, passageways formed in adjacent faces of said movable mold members to provide sprues and gates and a centrally positioned riser above said core stem for the casting metal, and recesses formed in the adjacent faces of said base and movable mold members and communicating with said passageways forming sprues to supply metal to the lower portion of said casting cavity with said gates supplying casting metal to the upper portion thereof from one of said sprues.

GILBERT A. FERLIN. 

